''Desert Moon'' is the debut solo album by former

Styx In Greek mythology, Styx (; grc, Στύξ ) is a river that forms the boundary between Earth (Gaia) and the Underworld. The rivers Acheron, Cocytus, Lethe, Phlegethon, and Styx all converge at the centre of the underworld on a great marsh, whic ...

keyboard player/singer/songwriter

Dennis DeYoung Dennis DeYoung (born February 18, 1947) is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer. He was a founding member of the rock band Styx, and served as its primary lead vocalist and keyboardist from 1972 until 1999. DeYoung was th ...

. It was released in 1984 on

A&M Records A&M Records was an American record label founded as an independent company by Herb Alpert and Jerry Moss in 1962. Due to the success of the discography A&M released, the label garnered interest and was acquired by PolyGram in 1989 and began distr ...

. To date, it has been the most successful of his solo albums and most successful of any of the Styx member solo albums. The album sold respectably and reached No. 24 on the ''Billboard'' 200 album charts in the fall of 1984 and was certified Gold in Canada. The album's biggest hit was its title cut which hit No. 10 on the ''Billboard'' singles chart. The album's second single "Don't Wait for Heroes" reached No. 83 and got MTV play. However, the follow up "Dear Darling (I'll Be There)", failed to chart.

Track listing

All songs written by

, except where noted: # "Don't Wait for Heroes" – 4:46 # "Please" – 4:20 (a duet with

Rosemary Butler Rosemary Ann Butler (born April 6, 1947) is an American singer. She began her career playing bass guitar and singing in an all-female band named the Ladybirds while attending Fullerton Union High School in Fullerton, California. The band appeared ...

) # "Boys Will Be Boys" – 5:41 # "

Fire Fire is the rapid oxidation of a material (the fuel) in the exothermic chemical process of combustion, releasing heat, light, and various reaction Product (chemistry), products. At a certain point in the combustion reaction, called the ignition ...

" (

Jimi Hendrix James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix (born Johnny Allen Hendrix; November 27, 1942September 18, 1970) was an American guitarist, singer and songwriter. Although his mainstream career spanned only four years, he is widely regarded as one of the most ...

) – 3:46 # "

Desert Moon ''Desert Moon'' is the debut solo album by former Styx keyboard player/singer/songwriter Dennis DeYoung. It was released in 1984 on A&M Records. To date, it has been the most successful of his solo albums and most successful of any of the Styx m ...

" – 6:09 # "Suspicious" – 4:57 # "Gravity" – 4:51 # "Dear Darling (I'll Be There)" – 4:27

Personnel

: percussion, piano, arranger, keyboards, lead and background vocals, producer, mixing *Tom Dziallo: acoustic guitar, bass guitar, percussion, arranger, electric guitar, drum programming, mixing *Dennis Johnson:

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

*Tom Radtke:

drums A drum kit (also called a drum set, trap set, or simply drums) is a collection of drums, cymbals, and other Percussion instrument, auxiliary percussion instruments set up to be played by one person. The player (drummer) typically holds a pair o ...

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

*Steve Eisen: conductor, conga, saxophone *

: duet vocal on "Please" * Sandy Caulfield: background vocals *Suzanne DeYoung, Tom Dziallo, Dawn Feusi, Pat Hurley: additional backing vocals *Vince Guttman: drum programming *Maurice Lynn Simmons: drum programming *

Gary Loizzo Gary Alexander Loizzo (August 16, 1945 – January 16, 2016) was an American guitarist, singer, recording engineer, and record producer. He is best known for being the lead singer with The American Breed. Biography Gary Loizzo formed a band calle ...

: background vocals, engineer, drum programming, mixing *Rob Kingsland: engineer, mixing *

Ted Jensen Ted Jensen (born September 19, 1954) is an American mastering engineer, known for having mastered many recordings, including the Eagles' ''Hotel California'', Green Day's '' American Idiot'' and Norah Jones' ''Come Away with Me''. Biography Ted ...

: mastering *Jim Popko: engineer, mixing *Bill Rascati: engineer, mixing *Chuck Beeson: art direction, design

Notes

1984 debut albums Dennis DeYoung albums A&M Records albums {{1980s-rock-album-stub